"It was never Amul vs Nandini, there's no dispute": Amul MD Jayen Mehta

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], April 11 : Amid the ongoing Amul-Nandini row between Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Amul MD Jayen Mehta on Tuesday said that there was no dispute between the two dairy companies and it was never "Amul vs Nandini" but rather "Amul and Nandini".
While talking to reporters, Jayen Mehta said, "There is no dispute between Amul Federation and Nandini in Karnataka. Association between Amul Federation and Nandini will only benefit cattle herders. We are joining in the spirit of cooperation. No harm will come to Amul or Nandini."
"It was never Amul vs Nandini but it is Amul and Nandini. We are selling Amul milk since 2015 in Hubli Belgaum, North Karnataka. We thought of selling milk through e-commerce," the MD added.
Highlighting that the two companies were working together, Mehta said, "We want to give our milk to the people of Bengaluru at the same prices which are available in Mumbai and Delhi. The prices of our milk and curd are more than her (Nandani's) prices. Nandini will not be affected by Amul's move to Bengaluru, even her MD has accepted this. There is no competition between the two."
"Amul is manufacturing its ice cream at its Nandini plant in Karnataka. Last year we made ice cream worth Rs 100 crore from Nandini's milk at Nandini's plant and sold in Karnataka and South India market," he added.
Amid speculations of Karnataka Milk Federation's famed dairy brand 'Nandini' merging with Gujarat-based dairy cooperative Amul, State BJP MLC Chalavadi T Narayanaswamy on Monday said that the issue is a part of the "false propaganda" of Congress and Janata Dal (Secular).
The senior BJP leader said that this (fear of Nandini merging with Gujarat's Amul) is the new toolkit of the opposition parties for the upcoming State Assembly elections.
Amul had recently announced that it will sell dairy products in Bengaluru following which Opposition Congress and the JD(S) expressed their protest.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has hit out at the Congress for running a "misinformation campaign." State BJP general secretary Ravi Kumar stated that Nandini is on number two position in India ever since BJP came to power in Karnataka.
"Nandini is in number two position in the whole country, so in the coming days, we will also export to different countries, this is our idea. Nandini products are supplied in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Nandini's milk is also used to make laddoos in Tirupati temple," added Ravi Kumar.
BJP state general secretary Aswathnarayan said that former chief ministers Siddaramaiah of the Congress and HD Kumaraswamy of JD(S) along with some others like DK Shivakumar had been over the past few days spreading misinformation and "hulla gulla."